Cessna 172S N53443

Summary

On 5 November 2006 at about 07:24 local time, a Cessna 172S registered N53443 was involved in an accident near Hominy, Oklahoma, United States. 4 people were on board and 2 died, 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 November 2006 at 07:24

Classification

Accident

Location

Hominy, Oklahoma, United States

Coordinates

36.4611, -96.4956

Aircraft

Cessna 172S

Registration

N53443

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tulsa → Wichita

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

DFW07FA019

2 people died.

The pilot's continued cruise flight into adverse weather conditions, and his failure to maintain clearance from terrain. Contributing factors were the dark night conditions, and the low ceilings.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

Dark night instrument conditions prevailed throughout the area when the non-instrument rated private pilot elected to initiate the 114-nautical mile cross-country flight to his home station. There were no witnesses to the accident. The moon illumination on the night of the accident was reported as full moon; however, there was an overcast sky, and visibility was reduced due to rain and the cloud layer. Additionally, the unpopulated terrain over the route of flight provided little illumination for ground references. Search and rescue operations were hampered due to IFR conditions in the area, and the wreckage was not located for 4 hours and 29 minutes following the accident. The investigation revealed that the pilot had accumulated a total of 4.1 hours of night time, and 4.0 hours of simulated instrument time. The single-engine airplane impacted the ground on a heading of 240-degrees, coming to rest in inverted, 501-feet from the initial impact point. Ground scars, and damage sustained by the airframe, were consistent with the airplane impacting the ground in the cruise configuration in a near level flight attitude. The flaps were found in the fully retracted position. No anomalies were found with the airframe or the engine that could have prevented normal flight operations. Flight and engine control continuity was established at the accident site.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.